MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND BASE STATION CONTROL APPARATUS

• US 20160345189A1
• Filed: 01/18/2014
• Published: 11/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SOFTBANK Corporation (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: SOFTBANK Corporation (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Miyagawa, Junichi, Fujii, Teruya
• Granted Patent: US 10,149,176 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18517 Transmission equipment in earth stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18519 Operations control, administration or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

Mobile communication systems and base station control apparatuses are provided, by which a spectral efficiency can be improved while preventing interference between a terrestrial cellular mobile communication system and a satellite mobile communication system, and mobile communication services using mobile station apparatuses can be provided more surely in an emergent condition in which a failure occurs in a part of terrestrial cellular base stations. A same frequency band is used for radio communications between a mobile station apparatus 10 and each of terrestrial cellular base stations 20 and a communication relay apparatus 41 of artificial satellite 40. A radio resource used in the terrestrial cellular base stations 20 and a radio resource used in a satellite base station 30 in a common area where the terrestrial cellular mobile communication system and the satellite mobile communication system are available are allocated so as not to overlap with each other, and the radio resource allocated for the satellite base station is increased in the emergent condition in which a failure occurs in a part of the terrestrial cellular base stations so as to be more than that in a normal condition.

Claims

1. A mobile communication system capable of using a terrestrial cellular mobile communication system and a satellite mobile communication system, the mobile communication system comprising:

terrestrial cellular base stations capable of performing a radio communication with a mobile station apparatus;

a satellite base station capable of performing a radio communication with a mobile station apparatus via a communication relay apparatus of an artificial satellite; and

a base station control apparatus of controlling the terrestrial cellular base stations and the satellite base station; and

wherein a same frequency band is used for radio communications between the mobile station apparatus and each of the terrestrial cellular base stations and the communication relay apparatus of the artificial satellite in a common area where the terrestrial cellular mobile communication system and the satellite mobile communication system are available; and

wherein the base station control apparatus controls to allocate a radio resource used in the terrestrial cellular base stations and a radio resource used in the satellite base station in the common area so as not to overlap with each other, and to increase the radio resource allocated for the satellite base station in an emergent condition in which a failure occurs in a part of the terrestrial cellular base stations so as to be more than that in a normal condition.

2. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the base station control apparatus controls to allocate a time slot used in the terrestrial cellular base stations and a time slot used in the satellite base station in the common area so as not to overlap with each other and to increase an allocation rate of the time slot allocated for the satellite base station in the emergent condition so as to be more than that in the normal condition, in state that the terrestrial cellular base stations and the satellite base station in the common area are synchronized in time with each other.

3. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the base station control apparatus controls to allocate a divided frequency band used in the terrestrial cellular base stations and a divided frequency band used in the satellite base station in the common area so as not to overlap with each other, among two or more divided frequency bands into which the foregoing same frequency band, and to increase an allocation rate of the divided frequency band allocated for the satellite base station in the emergent condition so as to be more than that in the normal condition, in state that the terrestrial cellular base stations and the satellite base station in the common area are synchronized in frequency with each other.

4. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the base station control apparatus controls to divide in time each of two or more divided frequency bands into which the same frequency band is divided, to allocate the time slot in the divided frequency band used in the terrestrial cellular base stations and the time slot in the divided frequency band used in the satellite base station in the common area so as not to overlap with each other, and to increase an allocation rate of the time slot in the divided frequency band allocated for the satellite base station in the emergent condition so as to be more than that in the normal condition, in state that the terrestrial cellular base stations and the satellite base station are in the common area synchronized in time and in frequency with each other.

5. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the base station control apparatus controls the allocation rate of radio resource according to a ratio between a communication traffic in the terrestrial cellular base stations and a communication traffic in the satellite base station, in the emergent condition or in the normal condition.

6. The mobile communication system according to claim 1,

wherein the area in which the communication relay apparatus and the mobile station apparatus are capable of communicating with each other is a single beam area corresponding to a beam directing along orientation of an antenna of the communication relay apparatus, and

wherein the single beam area includes two or more areas of the terrestrial cellular base stations.

7. The mobile communication system according to claim 1,

wherein the areas in which the communication relay apparatus and the mobile station apparatus are capable of communicating with each other are two or more beam areas corresponding to two or more beams directing along different orientations of antennas of the communication relay apparatus, the two or more beams being spatially shifted,

wherein each of the two or more beam area includes two or more areas of the terrestrial cellular base stations, and

wherein the base station control apparatus performs the control of allocation rate of radio resource independently in each of the beam areas in the emergent condition or in the normal condition.

8. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, further comprising the communication relay apparatus of artificial satellite,

wherein the satellite base station comprises a base station apparatus connected with a core network, and frequency converting means of performing a conversion between a frequency used in the base station apparatus and a frequency for satellite communications used in a communication with the communication relay apparatus of artificial satellite when relaying a communication between the base station apparatus and the communication relay apparatus of artificial satellite, and

wherein the communication relay apparatus of artificial satellite comprises frequency converting means of performing a conversion between a frequency used in a communication with the mobile station apparatus and a frequency for satellite communications used in a communication with the satellite base station when relaying a communication between the mobile station apparatus and the satellite base station.

9. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein radio transmission systems of the terrestrial cellular mobile communication system and the satellite mobile communication system are same as each other.

10. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein radio transmission systems of the terrestrial cellular mobile communication system and the satellite mobile communication system are different from each other.

11. A base station control apparatus of controlling terrestrial cellular base stations capable of performing a radio communication with a mobile station apparatus and a satellite base station capable of performing a radio communication with a mobile station apparatus via a communication relay apparatus of an artificial satellite in a mobile communication system capable of using a terrestrial cellular mobile communication system and a satellite mobile communication system,

wherein a same frequency band is used for radio communications between the mobile station apparatus and each of the terrestrial cellular base stations and the communication relay apparatus of the artificial satellite in a common area where the terrestrial cellular mobile communication system and the satellite mobile communication system are available, and

wherein the base station control apparatus controls to allocate a radio resource used in the terrestrial cellular base stations and a radio resource used in the satellite base station in the common area so as not to overlap with each other, and to increase the radio resource allocated for the satellite base station in an emergent in which a failure occurs in some of the terrestrial cellular base stations so as to be more than that in a normal condition.

12. The base station control apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the base station control apparatus controls to allocate a time slot used in the terrestrial cellular base stations and a time slot used in the satellite base station in the common area so as not to overlap with each other and to increase an allocation rate of the time slot allocated for the satellite base station in the emergent condition so as to be more than that in the normal condition, in state that the terrestrial cellular base stations and the satellite base station in the common area are synchronized in time with each other.

13. The base station control apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the base station control apparatus controls to allocate a divided frequency band used in the terrestrial cellular base stations and a divided frequency band used in the satellite base station in the common area so as not to overlap with each other, among two or more divided frequency bands into which the foregoing same frequency band, and to increase an allocation rate of the divided frequency band allocated for the satellite base station in the emergent condition so as to be more than that in the normal condition, in state that the terrestrial cellular base stations and the satellite base station in the common area are synchronized in frequency with each other.

14. The base station control apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the base station control apparatus controls to divide in time each of two or more divided frequency bands into which the same frequency band is divided, to allocate the time slot in the divided frequency band used in the terrestrial cellular base stations and the time slot in the divided frequency band used in the satellite base station in the common area so as not to overlap with each other, and to increase an allocation rate of the time slot in the divided frequency band allocated for the satellite base station in the emergent condition so as to be more than that in the normal condition, in state that the terrestrial cellular base stations and the satellite base station are in the common area synchronized in time and in frequency with each other.

15. The base station control apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the base station control apparatus controls the allocation rate of radio resource according to a ratio between a communication traffic in the terrestrial cellular base stations and a communication traffic in the satellite base station, in the emergent condition or in the normal condition.

16. The base station control apparatus according to claim 11,

wherein the area in which the communication relay apparatus and the mobile station apparatus are capable of communicating with each other is a single beam area corresponding to a beam directing along orientation of an antenna of the communication relay apparatus, and

wherein the single beam area includes two or more areas of the terrestrial cellular base stations.

17. The base station control apparatus according to claim 11,

wherein the areas in which the communication relay apparatus and the mobile station apparatus are capable of communicating with each other are two or more beam areas corresponding to two or more beams directing along different orientations of antennas of the communication relay apparatus, the two or more beams being spatially shifted,

wherein each of the two or more beam area includes two or more areas of the terrestrial cellular base stations, and

wherein the base station control apparatus performs the control of allocation rate of radio resource independently in each of the beam areas in the emergent condition or in the normal condition.